


It Never Ends

by timeless_alice



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Crack Treated Seriously, Fluff, Kissing, M/M, Not Beta Read, hand holding, walking through the apocalypse holding hands because you're boyfriends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2020-09-18
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:28:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26531401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/timeless_alice/pseuds/timeless_alice
Summary: Jon and Martin continue their journey through the Apocalypse and come upon another domain, this one amusement park based.--"We're nearing another domain," Jon said by way of explanation, with the two setting off once more."Oh wow," Martin mumbled, under his breath but just loud enough for Jon to hear. "Couldn't have guessed that one."Jon laughed, a soft gentle sound that bordered on the bashful side, and gave Martin's hand a squeeze. Martin squeezed back, and Jon knew without having to Know that Martin wore his own smile.
Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist
Comments: 4
Kudos: 45





	It Never Ends

They heard it before the saw it; a steady clicking noise of cars along a track like the pulsing of some great mechanical heart. It almost drowned out the cries and groans of the people trapped within this domain, but it did not quite manage the feat and so those mournful howls still reached Jon and Martin. It was a small blessing that they did not sound to be in pain, though Jon's jaw still tightened, just the slightest bit of tension as teeth pressed together before it released with a soft huff of a sigh.

"Jon?" Martin ventured from where he walked, just a little behind him, breaking the silence that had taken hold of them for the past few minutes.

Jon made a soft humming noise in response, the fear that hung in the air growing thicker and sweeter with each passing moment. All the things to Know about this domain pressed around him, swirling around at his fingertips and along his skin; soon it would fill him up, crowd out any other thought until it had nowhere else to go. But that was still some ways off. He paused to shake out his hands, one at a time as he passed cane from one to the other, chasing away those lingering sensations that would inevitably return as they always did. Situating himself once more, he reached out to take hold of Martin's hand.

"We're nearing another domain," Jon said by way of explanation, with the two setting off once more.

"Oh wow," Martin mumbled, under his breath but just loud enough for Jon to hear. "Couldn't have guessed _that_ one."

Jon laughed, a soft gentle sound that bordered on the bashful side, and gave Martin's hand a squeeze. Martin squeezed back, and Jon knew without having to Know that Martin wore his own smile.

After several more minutes of walking, for whatever time and distance meant in this place, they came across a tall fence that barricaded them from a simple dirt pathway. Their course shifted, now beginning to walk along the fence towards wherever that path led, though it stretched on as far as the eye could see in either direction. Miles and miles of it. On the horizon, they could see the looming tracks of an elevated roller coaster: it was an even plane, with no lifts or drops, and the pulsing clacks were slow enough to indicate a leisurely pace to the thing that could possibly be called a "ride."

"Well," Martin said, "it can't be as bad as that hell merry-go-round, right?" He let out a low, nervous chuckle, and drew to a halt.

"That depends on how we're defining 'bad'," Jon said. He turned to face Martin, who was regarding him with a raised eyebrow and a mild look of exasperation. Jon shrugged, and would have spread his hands in supplication if he had any free to do so. "I, uhm, I mean I don't think they're ripping each other's faces off, at least."

Martin opened his mouth, his eyes narrowing under brows that had knitted together in a look of concern, before he closed it again. "Right. Right of course."

Jon gave him a small tug. "Come on, the sooner we're through this the better." His eyes darted towards the towering Panopticon, then back to the roller coaster that sat before them. Martin offered no protest, and they began walking once more.

This was, all things considered, one of the nicer areas of the apocalypse. The grass was green and lush, well maintained and still bearing those telltale lines that marked it as recently mowed by a groundskeeper. An illusion of some scenic part of an amusement park, he supposed, though the rest of it was nowhere to be seen. No other rides, no concession stands, no other winding pathways that branched off from the one they were following along. Just a well cared for field that stretched for proverbial miles (he did not bother to Know how big it was, because what would that matter in the scheme of things) and the ride still in the distance.

If he was able to ignore the situation, which he couldn't, and if he was able to ignore the teasing fear that was pulsing in his throat, which he _definitely_ couldn't, he could almost pretend this was a pleasant stroll with Martin. He wanted to, in the desperate way a drowning man desired air, but that familiar guilt festered in his stomach and wound so tight around that hunger for all that fear that he was sick with it. Instead, he leaned close against Martin, shifting his grasp so their fingers were entwined.

"You know," Martin said, a little dreamy, "once all this is finished..." Jon bit back his typical retort, teeth digging into his tongue. "We should go to an amusement park together." He playfully elbowed Jon, gentle enough to jostle him but not enough to send him off balance. There was an unmistakable laugh to his words and it filled every corner of Jon with a warmth that he wanted nothing more than to bask in for the rest of his life, smoothing away all the swirling darkness that would never truly be gone. "I'll even go on a carousel with you."

Jon's lips quirked into a smile. "I'd like that, I think. Though nothing too thrilling, I think we've had enough of that for a lifetime. Multiple lifetimes, even."

And Martin laughed, a rich barking thing that drew Jon's smile into a full beam. He thought for a moment of kissing him, of stealing another moment of happiness in the hell they found themselves in; instead of halting and pulling him in for a kiss as he so very much wanted to, he lifted his hand to place one on his knuckles before twining their fingers once again.

It was not long after that that they came upon a skeleton. Not that of a person, nor anything recognizable as having once been alive. No, instead it was some massive prop: a skeleton rising out of the ground, one arm laying across the ground as if to prop it up in its jaunty lean. Its jaw hung open in a facsimile of a laughing smile, the black of its sockets inlet with red lights that bore a sinister glow as it watched them. It held a top hat aloft in greeting. Martin recoiled at the sight of it, and Jon stopped himself just short of doing the same. He knew it was there, had Known it was, but that did not detract from its startling appearance.

"Good lord," he said. "I don't like that at all."

"The red eyes are a bit much," Martin replied, blase in a way to mask his own fear. Jon tried to ignore it. "Even for here." He put on that voice of his when he was descending into mocking. "We get it you're evil, you don't have to try so hard. Christ."

They passed it by, leaving it to its lonesome vigil over the empty land. The tracks were almost upon them now, the cries of the passengers now echoing in the otherwise still air. It was not a fearful noise, more one of despair and desperation, but the air was thick with their terror. It was heavy on Jon's tongue, forcing its way down his throat and pounding behind his eyes in time with his heartbeat like the beginning of a bad headache. He let go of Martin's hand, and the absence of its warmth made a somber longing flash through him. They'd only be parted for a few moments, he reminded himself with a deep inhale.

"You should go on ahead," he said. "I'll, um, catch up with you in a moment."

Martin regarded him for a moment, then sighed. "All right. Is there uh, anything up ahead I should be worried about?"

"No," Jon said, a quick swipe with his Sight telling him there was nothing but field and track. The one who ruled this domain was far off, and uninterested in those not trapped within their grasp. He paused, laughed softly, and said, "Well, Helen might show up and try to tempt you. Again."

With a shifting of his backpack and a shrug, Martin said, "I'll just tell her to piss off."

Before parting, he leaned forward to cup Jon's face. A thumb glanced over a small circular scar just under Jon's eye, and a look of concern crossed his features, though it was gone just as fast as it had appeared. Jon reached up to cover one of his hands with his own. Martin leaned down to give him a kiss, something soft and sweet and warm that was over far too soon for Jon's liking. Jon nuzzled against him, allowing himself that one moment longer, enjoying that warm presence and savoring its glow for as long as he could.

"Don't take too long," Martin said as he pulled away.

"I don't have much control over that." Jon kept his voice light, though the disappointment in the moment being over still seeped into his words. "But I'll try."

Martin gave him one last look and a small smile, then squared himself up with a huff. "All right. See you." And with that, he turned and began to walk off, leaving Jon alone beside the tall black fence.

He watched his retreating back, following along the path and towards that looming ride. Jon waited until he was out of earshot, and then for a few beats more just to be sure. Of course he could seek out and Know, but he had made his promise and would not venture into those gray areas for fear of their edges becoming frayed. Better to keep that line in the sand firm. But when he was certain, he shook out his hands and turned his eyes upward, towards the tracks and the cars he could not yet see. The statement of this place, with all its fear and despair that had been building in his throat to press heavy against his mouth, was finally allowed to tumble past his lips.

"Are you ready to witness Mr. Bones' Wild Ride?"

**Author's Note:**

> alternate titles: a consideration of the bone zone
> 
> this is really fucking stupid and i have no explanation for it beyond me remembering that mr bones wild ride exists and thinking "this sounds like it'd be a fear domain" but then it turned into mostly jon and martin being boyfriends
> 
> anyway find me on tumblr at timelessmulder or twitter at timelessalice


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